World and National News Briefs

Submitted on April 10, 2002

Send to friend Pontiff urges people to pray the rosary VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul II asked people around the world to pray the rosary daily to help protect humanity from the "evil scourge" of terrorism. In the wake of deadly attacks in the United States, the Pope said the Church wants to make a prophetic call for world peace - a peace that involves justice but that is motivated by moderation and love. The Pope made the remarks at a noon blessing at the Vatican Sept. 30 after celebrating Mass with more than 240 bishops at the start of a monthlong Synod of Bishops. Mandatory contraceptives case to be heard SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CNS) - The California Supreme Court Sept. 26 agreed to review an appeals court decision requiring Catholic Charities of Sacramento to comply with a state law requiring employers to include contraception in health plans that cover prescriptions. Without comment, the high court's six judges voted in private in San Francisco to review the July 2 decision by the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento. Catholic Charities argued in a suit filed last year that the law should be set aside because it violates the group's religious freedom. Group goes to Pakistan to aid Afghans VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The Church's confederation of Catholic relief agencies, Caritas Internationalis, is sending an emergency-response team to Pakistan to provide aid during the exodus of Afghan refugees. The eight-person team is made up of European and U.S. medical and operational professionals who have dealt with humanitarian crisis situations in the past, the Vatican-based organization said Oct. 1. Two operational experts from Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency, will be on the team. The Caritas response came as refugee experts around the world warned of a growing crisis in Pakistan, which is already home to tens of thousands of Afghans who have fled their country in recent years.Mother Angelica suffers minor stroke BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (CNS) - Mother Angelica, founder of Eternal Word Television Network in Birmingham, returned to her "Mother Angelica Live" TV show Sept. 25 after a three-week absence due to a stroke. In a posting on its Web site, EWTN described the stroke as "minor" and said, "Her doctors firmly believe that the impact of this stroke is temporary and will result in little, if any, lasting effects." At the start of her Sept. 25 show the 78-year-old nun, a Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration, joked about an eye patch she was wearing because she could not close her eye properly - one of several signs of slight facial paralysis resulting from the stroke Conference leader supports call for truce WASHINGTON (CNS) - The head of the Colombian bishops' conference expressed hope that a peace commission's proposal for a six-month truce between the armed forces and Colombia's largest guerrilla group would be accepted. "The proposal will be well-received. The entire country is hoping for a cease-fire," said Archbishop Alberto Giraldo Jaramillo of Medellin, bishops' conference president, in a telephone interview. The Archbishop was interviewed Sept. 26 after a peace commission proposed the truce between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, called FARC after its Spanish initials. Flags in church? It's up to bishop, pastors WASHINGTON (CNS) - What are the Roman Catholic Church's rules on flags in church? None, really, says the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Liturgy. So it's up to the local bishop, who in turn can leave it to the discretion of his pastors. Father James P. Moroney, executive director of the secretariat, told Catholic News Service that the secretariat posted information on flags in church on its Web site Sept. 25 after receiving about a dozen inquiries in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.